Question

Read the following excerpt from Levitt and Dubner’s Freakonomics. The bagel data also reflect how much personal mood seems to affect honesty. Weather, for instance, is a major factor. Unseasonably pleasant weather inspires people to pay at a higher rate. Unseasonably cold weather, meanwhile, makes people cheat prolifically; so do heavy rain and wind. Worst are the holidays. The week of Christmas produces a 2 percent drop in payment rates—again, a 15 percent increase in theft, an effect on the same magnitude, in reverse, as that of 9/11. Thanksgiving is nearly as bad; the week of Valentine’s Day is also lousy, as is the week straddling April 15. There are, however, a few good holidays: the weeks that include the Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Columbus Day. The difference in the two sets of holidays? The low-cheating holidays represent little more than an extra day off from work. The high-cheating holidays are fraught with miscellaneous anxieties and the high expectations of loved ones. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of this paragraph?

Answer 1

Main idea of this paragraph is summarizes by the statement that, stressful fall and winter holidays generally cause payment rates to drop.
Explanation:
Unseasonably lovely climate rouses individuals to pay at a higher rate. Unseasonably frosty climate, then, influences individuals to cheat productively; so do overwhelming precipitation and wind. Most noticeably awful are the occasions. The high-tricking occasions are loaded with different nerves and the exclusive requirements of friends and family.

Answer 2

Steven D. Levitt teaches Economics at the Chicago University since 1997. He is also the director of the Becker Center. He has also won the John Bates Clark medal in the year 2003. Steven completed his B.A. in the year 1989 from the Harvard University and then, his PhD. from M.I.T. (1994.  

Stephen J. Dubner is another name related to the Freakonomics success. He is an inspiring, award-winning writer and a famous on-screen personality. Earlier, he used to teach English at Columbia University and has played in ASU rock band. Dubner also hosts the Freakonomics Radio broadcast.  

Anyhow, the central idea that is promoted in the excerpt is:

The high-cheating holidays are fraught with miscellaneous anxieties and the high expectations of loved ones.

This is so because the terminology in the paragraph suggests the focus on the high-cheating holidays and family pressure.